Give away: inXS we trust (DONE)

Greetings, gear folks. It's that time once more, I'm giving away this set of D'Addario XS strings. I've never been a fan of coated strings but the XS is something very acceptable by my standards. I've chosen this gauge to perhaps entice the other side of the string camp who are not into 'conventional' gauges. It's a subtle way of saying I know you are out there. So here goes:

• send me a blank email with the subject: inXS!
• wait for me to reply saying you are the lucky recipient
• strictly a first come, first serve basis

A huge shoutout to Davis GMC for the sponsor - thank you, Janet & Co! 👍

EDIT: Congrats to bro Amirun - your strings are on the way. 

In the pink of health

Played my pink paisley Tele yesterday, just needed to hear some single coils in action.

Before that happened, managed to ask Beez to have the Seymour Duncan Hot for Tele set installed as this guitar previously featured the Lil '59/Alnico II pairing. This is one of those Fenders that feature thin, vintage frets much to the dismay of modern players but I managed to have a low action here so it sort of made up for the 'shortcomings'. 

My last set of D'Addario 9s & everything went well.

Orange justice

Decided to have a set of 10.5s in all 24" guitars. Was actually alright with a set of 10s but 10.5s handle aggression better. There's no mellowing out even with single coils, I am aggressive 😎

I am a firm believer that strap buttons should not come into contact directly with the paint job.

For a small price to pay, our instruments should get some due attention. These are available at Davis GMC/ TYMC.

This was taken near the front door yesterday. That's how much sunlight we get at noon. It's been cold the last few days, folks. 

XT

The XT range will be in full force here soon. Trying. 👍

XT

I'm still fanatical when it comes to strings. D'Addario has the new XT range to offer & this was recently launched at Summer NAMM. The key highlights are physical durability & extended lifespan. I've been through treated strings & noted that string chemistry contributes poorly to tone. In an attempt to make strings last, there's this tonal compromise which isn't on par with the product's physical longevity. The case in point would be Elixir. If you feel these are superb for your needs, then please do not let any opinions here waver your belief. The best-of-both-worlds offering in my books is still Cleartone, with D'Addario's NYXL coming in close but let's see what the XT has to offer. These will be in stores only in 'Fall (September or later). 

Goodbye July. 👏

11 - 59

Sudden urge to play a 7-string. The Ibanez RGD7421 was within reach. Tuned to C# but the bottom two strings were floppy, not really suitable for my kind of playing. Those were a set of 10s.

A quick re-string with a set of 11s + an additional .059 to make it a complete 7. The increase in tension is necessary for me because for my kind of music, I don't slow down on the bottom strings. Floppy strings just kill clarity. By the way, they don't sell .059 as a loose purchase here, it's bought online. 

Beyond 10

This happened last weekend. The 10.5 set went into my Gibson LP CM to accommodate a slight detune- everything a half step down. This gauge set is not available at the stores here, I bought it online. I have a particular assignment for this guitar & only this gauge set could move my mind away from dealing with floppy strings while playing. 

Return of the yellow fellow

This was extremely bad. I was terribly upset upon seeing this. The corrosion/ rust was extensive & the parts affected were beyond salvation. Everything you see here was disposed.

The guitar in question is my Jackson DKMGT. To think that this guitar was kept in a hard case, well away from moisture exposure, for all that corrosion to happen still baffles me. It's the ultimate betrayal- to rely on a hard case for protection but it was secretly condoning an unbecoming activity. Anyway, all those parts were replaced. Replacement here refers to a complete makeover: Pickups, pots, 3-way selector, capacitor & screws. There was a default gain booster here which I had foregone. Instead, I opted for a 2x volume & 1x tone control configuration. The Tesla pickups were also replaced with a pair of DiMarzio D'Activator humbuckers which I like (a rare feat considering I'm not a DiMarzio fan). Well, all this- it's nothing Beez could not handle & the makeover was done in about 15min time.

D'Addario 9s in there.

My trusted, oversized DAW Shredline pick for days when only angry music is all I play. Happy weekend, everyone. 😁

Offset re-string

Had the sudden urge to play this. Endured the 10s that came as default. Time for change.

But before that, a quick re-conditioning of the fretboard. Three months on & the drying became rather obvious (before the 12th fret- unconditioned).

D'Addario 9s for a no nonsense performance. This guitar has a near baseball bat neck profile. something I'm averse to but find a joy to play lately. After playing this one, a quick switch to any Ibanez & I could feel some 'improvements' in terms of efficiency & effectiveness. 

Mira: Slight facelift

New pickups in my PRS S2 Mira: Phat Cat (n)/ Custom (b). Still keeping things 100% Seymour Duncan here. 

This is the uncompromising Beez standard when it comes to wiring: 1) Exposed wires are tubed up (that blue coat you see there) 2)  Extended wire length is kept in check (by strapping things up).

These screws are compatible with pick guards & rear cavity covers. Unlike the default screws (round heads), they are flat heads. The thing with flat heads is, you have to prevent it from being over-sunken into the hole. If that happens, it will crack your pick guard. They are definitely way more affordable than those sold at guitar stores; for 80c, you get 14 screws. The ones at guitar stores- $6 for 10 pieces; that's daylight robbery. Remember my dead, rusty screws? These are the deserving replacements. 

The other thing to note is that these generic screws come in a chrome finish only. I have no issues coating them black with paint markers for selected guitars. If you refer to the first picture of this post, you'd see them all blackened. 

A set of D'Addario 9.5s for the Mira.

Good as ever. This was done last Sunday before things get busy over the festive period. 

Phat Jazz

And yet another re-string adventure before the year ends. This is my Fender Modern Player HH  Jazzmaster. There are not many fans of this series namely due to its Chinese pedigree. The MP series were all made in China & they are not fakes. I'm reiterating this because there are people of a certain age group with firm Fender inclinations thinking these are copied instruments. The fact that they are from China, it somehow concurred the belief. Well, the MP series were handled by the Chinese Squier team. These are nothing but tastefully twisted upper end Squiers rebranded as Fenders. The MP instruments were the first most affordable Fenders & they were very good value for money instruments. 

The MP HH Jazzmasters came in two finishes, this is the other one featuring a rosewood fretboard. I chose the maple fretboard version simply because the Jazzmasters are traditionally made with rosewood fretboards, the maple version was rare. Today, you can get the other maple fretboard Jazzmaster from the American Professional series. 

I have swapped out the Tesla Plasma X-1 pickups for these Seymour Duncan Phat Cats. The difference was stark. This decision came about because I'm about done with trying to convince myself in getting the American Professional Jazzmaster with a price tag exceeding $2K. It was on my 2018 list but in view of the price & after trying it in person at the store, it was a definite NO. As consolation, I decided to make this MP version more Jazzmaster-ish by having single coils in there instead of humbuckers. I must say that the Phat Cats are all but under-appreciated when it comes to high octane overdrive & all-out shred stuff. Having these in this guitar- no regrets!

The other subtle change  here are these Strat-esque control knobs.

Of course, a fresh set of D'Addario 9s to get things going. 

Minor threat

Had the urge to hear a P-90 in action so got this one out to play. Sometimes we are too preoccupied with what works, we tend to forget what also works but not quite our cup of tea. The reason why I'm not too keen with P-90s is the humming factor. If you think standard single coils are terrible in this aspect, the P-90 will annoy you more. However, I've learnt to accept this quirk & employ noise suppressors into the signal mix to keep this in check somewhat. 

Gave it a fresh set of D'Addario along the way. The LP Jr. used to be Gibson's lesser model. It's meant for those of us who are not too particular in terms of features. It's also meant for bit-part players, people who are not too guitar inclined but do to pick it up sometimes & were made affordable. The Jr. to me is a lesson in simplicity & will not be any lesser in terms of appeal if we understand what it offers. Personally, anything goes as long as it fulfils my intention. 

Acrylux picks give away: Winners

Congrats to the above-listed recipients, picks are on the way. Please forgive the less than timely postal service due to the peak festive season. 

One more give away before we say goodbye to 2018 so watch this space. 😎

Give away: D'Addario picks

Howdy, folks! It's time for another give away & if you fancy the D'Addario Acrylux picks you see above, I'll be mailing them to three quick-fingered recipients. I got them as a complementary & do not intend to sell, it's just not right. I'm sure there are interested people out there who would put them to good use. Be informed that these are made from hard, non-flex material & note the relative size as well (I've included the standard yellow pick there for comparison). Here goes:

• Please send a blank e-mail me with Acrylux, yes! as the subject matter
• I will reply you to confirm postage details
• No closing date for this one, first come, first served basis
• All winners' names will be published here to prevent any misunderstandings (no other details, just your lovely names)
• Open to Singapore 🇸🇬 & Malaysian readers only 🇲🇾

Proven

Managed to re-string this guitar over the weekend. As stated there, I bought those strings back in January & in September, they are still good to go. D'Addario will always get my support for being awesome when it comes to re-thinking failed ventures. Resilience- we need this. 

No sugar coating

My Takamine sounded absolutely dead but the strings- no signs of corrosion, still very shiny. That out-of-the-box condition.

A quick re-string with a set of no-nonsense D'Addario really made my day. FYI the previous set in this guitar was a coated set, lots of longevity promises but very little delivery on tone. I believe I can take good care of a set of non-coated string set. On a regular playing basis, I can keep it in kicking good tone for more than a month. No more coated set for my acoustics. All those sweet promises without real delivery- hmph!

Half

Bass dweebs can relate better to flatter string wound. They understand the benefits of going flat, namely, a longer string life & smoother travel up & down the neck. The immediate effect of having flats is the clamped brightness. This is the main reason why big time jazz cats embrace flats; they sound fantastic in terms of warmth. I'm certainly not using the Schecter KR seen here for jazzy moments but the less rounded strings are the immediate address for bright-sounding pickups. There you go. 😁

D'Addario Half Rounds are available @ Davis GMC. So far I've only seen the 9s & 10s. Wish there's 95s...

Jag-la

Was at Beez's yesterday to get this pair of Teslas into my Fender MP Jaguar. The default pickups were above-average clean but not that enticing when it comes to overdrive. By the way, Teslas are going for 25% off at SV Guitars this sale season.

Did a capacitor replacement as well- it's a Montreux Retrovibe this time.

Last but not least, a quick re-string with the no-frills D'Addario XL set of 10s. Thank you Davis GMC for keeping prices reasonable! 

I'm very happy with this guitar not that it bears the Fender name, in fact, it means nothing at all. I'm fortunate to have come across a mahogany-P-90 pairing which is more meaningful to me. The bolt-on construction means there's more snap than what a Gibson could have offered in terms of tone, with the same combo. The Modern Player series were deemed a pathetic attempt by purists in selling the Fender name. This camp prefers to own a high end Squier than forking out money for any basement dwelling Fender model. But a deeper reading would reveal the fact that those people who handled the afore-mentioned glorified Squiers were indeed the ones handling the Modern Player series. 

Clip-free

This looks like a winner by D'Addario (new 2018)- a clip-free tuner that hosts onto an existing machine head screw. Discrete & out of the way, definitely thumbs up to this. However, it might impede neck placement during re-string, case storage, etc. (therefore need to own one to get the first hand account) but will definitely give it a go. 

Restring: Ashburn

First re-string for my John Page Ashburn- D'Addario NYXL set of 9s. I decided to lock the whammy down & it's a matter of some screw turns. I seldom whammy with this type of guitar any way. The psychology of fresh strings- the instrument played 'better'.